Mirasol defeats Yulo

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  — In the June 2 special election for congressman of the 5th district of Negros Oriental, the people have given their mandate to Binalbagan Mayor Alejandro Mirasol with a convincing victory over his nephew, PB Member Emilio Yulo III.

Mirasol, of the Liberal Party, got a total of 81,982 votes for a winning margin of 13,103 votes against Yulo, of the Nacionalista Party, who had 68,879.

Provincial election head Jessie Suarez proclaimed Mirasol the newly elected congressman at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday, a day after the election, at the Capitol Social Hall, in the presence of Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes.

The proclamation was attended by Governor Alfredo Maranon Jr., chairman of the United Negros Alliance that endorsed Mirasol, and some of their supporters and UNA members.

Marañon congratulated the newly-proclaimed representative of the 5th district and thanked God for the clean, quick and peaceful election, which was conducted under the old manual system.

Mirasol was set to take his oath before Speaker Feliciano Belmonte yesterday (Monday) and started working in Congress as replacement of the late congressman Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo, who died last January in London after a long battle with cirrhosis.

Mirasol thanked everyone who made his victory possible and committed to work hard for the people of the fifth district. He added that he has been in public service for a long time, citing his five terms as mayor of Binalbagan and as 5th district’s PB member in the past.

Despite being a rainy election day, a total of 151,611, out of the 206,521 registered voters in the fifth district have cast their votes.

It was a 73.41 percent voter’s turnout, said Suarez who described the special election as very peaceful, orderly and credible. - THE FREEMAN